Hearth Record

Washington County Nursing Home

A nursing home in Chatom, Alabama 36518

14600 St Stephens Avenue, Chatom, Alabama 36518. (251) 847-6412.

  • Not fully inspected in over two years (CMS flag)
CMS’s own record, on Care Compare

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The short answer

Record last released by CMS on Oct 28, 2026.

Each figure’s source sits beside it, in its section below.

What these words mean7
Star ratings
CMS rates some kinds of place from 1 to 5 stars, more stars meaning better on CMS’s own measures for that kind: for a nursing home, its health inspections, staffing and quality measures. A rating is CMS’s summary of those measures; it doesn’t promise good care. Source: CMS, Care Compare and the Five-Star Quality Rating System.
Inspection (survey)
A visit by state inspectors, often unannounced, who check a place against the rules it must meet. For nursing homes and other places Medicare pays, CMS calls these visits surveys: a standard survey of a nursing home comes at least every 15 months, and a complaint survey whenever a complaint calls for one. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.308.
Deficiency, citation, violation
What inspectors write up when a place didn’t meet a rule: the rule, what they saw, and when. CMS calls it a deficiency; states may say citation or violation. It is the inspectors’ finding, not a court’s, and the place is usually asked for a plan to correct it. Source: CMS, statement of deficiencies (Form CMS-2567); each state’s licensing agency.
Scope and severity (A to L)
CMS grades each nursing home deficiency with a letter. A to C: no actual harm, with potential for minimal harm. D to F: no actual harm, but potential for more. G to I: actual harm. J to L: immediate jeopardy. Within each band, the letter rises as more residents were affected or could be: one or a few, a pattern, or widespread. Source: CMS, nursing home scope and severity grid (State Operations Manual, chapter 7).
Nurse staffing hours
The hours registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurse aides worked, per resident per day, from the payroll records each home sends CMS. Source: CMS, Payroll-Based Journal.
Fines and payment denials
A fine (civil money penalty) is money CMS makes a nursing home pay when it falls short of federal rules. A payment denial means Medicare and Medicaid stop paying for new admissions until the home meets the rules again. Source: CMS; 42 CFR 488.430 and 488.417.
Capacity
The most people the licence or certification lets the place care for at once: residents, children, beds or apartments, as the state counts them. It isn’t how many are there now. Source: Each state’s licensing agency.

What did inspectors find?

0 health citations at the latest inspection cycle

The Alabama average is 4.0.

Last standard inspection Jun 10, 2021.

Source:

CMS, Provider Information, State and US Averages and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

Is it certified, and in good standing?

  • Certified for Medicare and Medicaid since Jan 1, 1975.
  • Not on CMS’s special focus list.
  • No abuse icon from CMS.
  • No change of ownership in the last 12 months.
  • CMS lists its ownership as government, county.
  • 88 certified beds.
Source:

CMS, Provider Information. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

Has it been fined or penalized?

  • No fines in the last three years.
  • No Medicare payment denials in the last three years.
  • 0 citations in the last three years came from complaint inspections.
Source:

CMS, Penalties and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

Who does the caring?

4.49 nurse hours per resident per day

The Alabama average is 3.90.

CMS publishes staffing about four months after the fact.

Source:

CMS, Provider Information and State and US Averages. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

Staffing measures
MeasureThis homeAlabama average
Nurse hours per resident per day4.493.90
Of which registered nurses0.670.66
At weekends3.783.27
Nursing staff turnover25%46.8%
Registered nurse turnover7.7%40%
Administrators who left0Not given

Who owns it?

  • Washington County Healthcare Authority, Inc. owns an unstated share directly since Oct 1, 2007.
  • 16 owners or officers are people: Arnold E Schultz (corporate director); Mary A Gibbs (corporate director); Teresa G Grimes (corporate officer); Teresa G Grimes (runs it (operational or managerial control)); Bonnie Michelle Onderdonk (corporate director); Emory Mosley (corporate director); Betsy Turner (corporate director); Joanne Barnes (corporate director); Carl Shane Thornton (corporate director); Virginia Micki Savage (corporate director); Sherry Dean (corporate director); Randy Grimes (corporate director); Sylvia Williams (corporate director); Harold Crouch (corporate director); James S Donald (managing employee (under contract)); Billy Gant (corporate director).
  • No private-equity firm among the owners CMS lists.
  • No real-estate investment trust among the owners CMS lists.
Source:

CMS, All Owners. Checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated monthly.

CMS, Provider Information. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

How do residents fare?

  • CMS rates its quality measures 5 of 5 (Alabama average 3.3).
Source:

CMS, Provider Information and State and US Averages. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

CMS’s star ratings, from 1 to 5
MeasureRating
Overall rating5 of 5
Health inspections5 of 5
Staffing5 of 5
Quality measures5 of 5

How does it compare nearby?

  • Among the 12 nearest homes, within 48.4 miles, this one had the 9th most health citations at the latest inspection cycle (0; the middle value was 4).
Source:

CMS, Provider Information. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

What the record doesn’t say

  • Complaints that didn’t lead to a citation aren’t published.
  • Inspections reach CMS’s data about six weeks after they happen, and staffing about four months after.
  • CMS publishes the inspectors’ full written findings in a separate monthly file, which isn’t loaded yet.
  • Fines and Medicare payment denials are the only enforcement CMS publishes; state licence actions aren’t included.

Sources

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Provider Information (4pq5-n9py).

    Released Oct 28, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated monthly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Health Deficiencies (r5ix-sfxw).

    Released Oct 28, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated monthly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Penalties (g6vv-u9sr).

    Released Oct 28, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated monthly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, All Owners (afe44b85-cc6d-40d7-b5df-00ae8910d1d2).

    Checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated monthly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, State and US Averages (xcdc-v8bm).

    Released Oct 28, 2026 and checked Nov 5, 2026. Updated monthly. Public domain (U.S. Government work).

If you believe something here is wrong, a correction starts with the agency whose record this copies: CMS. CMS’s own record is on Care Compare. If Hearth Record copied something wrongly, it will fix it and log the correction publicly, with its date: how corrections work.

Source:

This copy of the record was made on Nov 5, 2026.

From the home

The public record above comes first. Anything the home adds will appear here, below it, and say who wrote it.

Replies

None. Replies aren’t open yet. When they open, the home will be able to answer any finding for free, and the reply will show beside that finding, unedited and dated.

Paid listing

None. Paid listings aren’t open yet. When they open, anything paid for will say “Paid by the home”, and paying will never change a finding, a rating or the order of results.

How to read a record

Four things every record does, shown on an example record made up for this guide.

An example record, made up for this guide

An example nursing home

Made up for this guide: no real place is shown

Not fully inspected in over two years (CMS flag)

11 health citations at the latest inspection cycle

The state average is 14.3.

Source:

CMS, State and US Averages and Health Deficiencies. Released Oct 28, 2026. Updated monthly.

From the homeNone yet. Replies and paid listings aren’t open, and when they open they will sit here, below the record.

1 of 4

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Who published it, when, and how often it changes sit beside each fact, with a link to the agency’s own file.

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